Table 2. Main liver specific characteristics of the study population (n = 333) stratified by grade of fibrosis assessed by transient elastography.
| Variable | All patients (n = 333) |
TE < 7.1 kPa (n = 248) |
7.1≤TE<12.5kPa (n = 60) |
TE≥12.5kPa (n = 25) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE [kPa] | 5.6 (4.6–7.1) | 5.1 (4.3–6) | 8.7 (7.6–10.1) | 21.3 (15.3–39.6) | < 0.001 |
| HBV co-infection * | 24 (7%) | 17 (7%) | 4 (7%) | 3 (12%) | 0.472 |
| HCV co-infection * | 112 (34%) | 58 (23%) | 35 (58%) | 19 (76%) | < 0.001 |
| Alcohol consumption > 30g/d | 26 (8%) | 16 (62%) | 8 (31%) | 2 (8%) | 0.254 |
| AST [U/l] | 26 (19–40) | 24 (18–33.8) | 34 (25–53) | 56 (37–67) | < 0.001 |
| ALT [U/l] | 30 (20–48) | 28 (20–43) | 44 (22–83) | 44 (25–54) | 0.007 |
| y-GT [U/l] | 53 (36–90) | 47 (34–79) | 71 (45–150) | 94 (56–168) | < 0.001 |
| AP [U/l] | 87 (71–113) | 86 (69–111) | 90 (69–116) | 103 (81–129) | 0.032 |
| Albumin [g/l] | 43.2 (39.7–46) | 43.4 (40.5–46.4) | 42.6 (39.1–44.6) | 39.1 (33.6–42.8) | 0.004 |
| INR | 1.0 (0.9–1.1) | 1.0 (0.9–1.0) | 1.0 (1.0–1.1) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | < 0.001 |
| Platelets [x103/l] | 206 (164–24) | 214 (178–254) | 183 (151–225) | 111 (54–197) | < 0.001 |
| Total cholesterol [mg/dl] | 186 (157–215) | 188 (164–219) | 182 (150–203) | 150 (106–185) | 0.006 |
| LDL [mg/dl] | 105 (71–131) | 110 (77–134) | 105 (75–131) | 71(50–185) | 0.002 |
| HDL [mg/dl] | 41 (31–50) | 41 (32–51) | 41 (31–48) | 36 (20–42) | 0.057 |
*five patients had an HBV/HCV co-infection and one of these an HBV/HCV/hepatitis delta virus (HDV) co-infection. Data are shown as median and (interquartile range) or number and (%). Comparisons are performed using Kuskal-Wallis test.
HBV = hepatitis B virus; HCV = hepatitis C virus; AST = aspartate aminotransferase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; yGT = gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; AP = alkaline phosphatase; INR = international normalized ratio; LDL = low density lipoprotein; HDL = high density lipoprotein; APRI = AST to platelet ratio index